BOYS BASKETBALL: Boyertown sinks Southern Lehigh, 53-48

BOYERTOWN — After scoring the first 11 points of the game, Boyertown appeared ready to run away with Thursday night’s Boyertown Holiday Basketball Tournament boys opening-round contest. Instead, the Bears found themselves down by four points midway through the third quarter after a long stretch of inconsistent offense and some hot shooting from beyond the three-point line by Southern Lehigh.

But Boyertown got its shooting back on track and came up with some big steals and will once again play for the championship after a 53-48 win. Ethan Shalaway scored 12 to lead four double-figure scorers for the Bears (3-4), who will try for their fourth straight title tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Pennridge, a 50-47 winner over Governor Mifflin. Troy Reppert scored 12 for the Spartans (4-3), who will take on Mifflin in the 4:30 p.m. consolation contest.

“We started strong and they battled back,” said Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig. “That’s the way they play. They battle the whole game. I was proud of the kids. They (the Spartans) did go on a little run. But we executed, got some nice looks, and knocked some shots down.”

“I think our shots weren’t falling, so we had to go back to passing the ball and moving the ball and playing as a team,” said Shalaway, who shot 5-for-10 from the floor.

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The hosts jumped out to the early lead on a three-point bomb from the top of the circle by Mike Mansur (10 points), a trey from the left corner by Ryan Corcoran (10 points, 5 rebounds), a free throw by Tyler Bauman (7 points) followed by an offensive rebound basket by Shalaway, and two from the line by Kyle Dennin (10 points, 8 rebounds) … all in the first 3:49.

The Bears wound up with a 13-5 advantage after the opening quarter as Southern Lehigh shot 2-for-17 from the field. But Dylan Schmidt came off the bench and drilled a pair of 3-pointers for the Spartans, who closed to within 26-23 before Shalaway scored a fast break and made a free throw with one second left until the intermission.

Still, Southern Lehigh came back to take its first lead of the night at 30-29 on a 3-pointer by Casey Krause 1:35 into the second half and the Spartans held a 35-31 edge midway through the quarter.

But Shalaway knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner and Mansur stole the ball and took it in for a layup to put the Bears back on top. Then after the Spartans tied the score at 46-46 with 3:39 left on the game, Corcoran hit a floating one-hander in the lane and Shalaway scored on a fast break after another steal by Mansur, and the Bears did a good job of controlling the ball down the stretch to pull out the win.

Boyertown wound up at 20-for-45 from the floor while the Spartans shot 16-for-45, including 9-for-18 from three-point range. But Southern Lehigh hit only two more 3-pointers after taking its four-point lead as Boyertown switched from a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man defense.

“When they started hitting 3s, we had to change,” said Shalaway.

Boyertown has now beaten the Spartans the last four years in the tournament, including a 52-50 win last December.

“We see them a lot in the summer,” said Ludwig. “I think that leads to some familiarity, which leads to some close games.”

Shalaway wasn’t necessarily thinking about another championship.

“We just want to win the game,” he said. “I think we’re finally figuring things out. We had six away games to start the year. I think we’re finally hitting our stride, realizing our roles on the team.”

NOTES

The Bears have a mixture of young and older players who are trying to mesh this season. … “We’re young, but we’ve also got some good leaders,” said Ludwig. “We have four seniors (Mansur, Shalaway, Dylan Coughlin, and Connor Dunn). It’s not about young or old. We’re just trying to get better every day.” … Dennin had a big offensive board following a missed free throw with the Bears up by three with 58 seconds left and Mansur clinched the win by sinking both ends of a one-and-one with two seconds left. … Last year, the Bears beat Pennridge in the final, 81-71.